Roudebush Hall

Roudebush Hall -- completed in 1956 --is Miami's administrative center, housing the office of the president and other university officials. It honors a 1911 Miami graduate who served the university for 45 years (1911-1956) in various administrative posts under four presidents. "Unquestionably, the most enduring legacy of Wallace Roudebush is the beautiful campus of Miami University, said Chris Maraschiello in Wallace P. Roudebush: Spirit of the Institution, a biography of the dedicated man who had much to do with establishing the institution's positive image. Maraschiello said "since the time Roudebush first assumed responsibility for buildings and grounds, considerable effort has been made and continues to be made to maintain Miami's attractive, well-kept buildings of modified Georgian architecture and spacious grounds of lawns, trees, shrubs and flowers." Starting in the 1930s, Roudebush teamed with Charles F. Cellarius, a Cincinnati architect, who shared a love of Georgian architecture. But Roudebush -- who saw enrollment jump from 700 in 1911 to more than 5,000 by 1956 -- was more than a visionary.

Maraschiello said it was Roudebush's "careful management of finances that helped make each addition to the campus possible. Roudebush also joined others in promoting establishment of Hueston Woods State Park. A new university administration building was near completion when Roudebush died April 14, 1956. The new structure became Wallace P. Roudebush Hall, despite his request that "no building be named after me."